When the Philadelphia Eagles signed veteran tight end Harrison Bryant to a 1-year, $1.2 million contract on March 12, the future of the position seemed much different than it does on the verge of training camp.
In March, the general consensus was the Eagles were going to have an open competition at tight end in 2025 because veteran Dallas Goedert was either going to be traded or released to clear salary cap space.
Enter Bryant, who had already seen several opportunities snatched away to be a featured tight end at previous stops with the Cleveland Browns and Las Vegas Raiders.
After Goedert decided to take a pay cut on his 4-year, $57 million contract for 2025 that reduces his salary to $10 million this season, Bryant might be staring down some more crummy luck.
NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Dave Zangaro predicts Bryant will be on the outside looking in and won’t make the Eagles 53-man roster after training camp.
In Zangaro’s projections, the Eagles only keep 2 tight ends with Goedert and last year’s backup, Grant Calcaterra. The current depth chart for the Eagles has Bryant behind Goedert, Calcaterra and Kylen Granson.
“If the Eagles keep three, Kylen Granson makes sense because of his blocking ability,” Zangaro wrote. “But there’s also a chance the Eagles just begin the season with two and have TE3 by committee early in the season. Maybe E.J. Jenkins, Granson and Harrison Bryant won’t all get through waivers but at least one or two of them should and then the Eagles can put them on the practice squad.”
Bryant’s Legendary College Career at FAU
Bryant, 6-foot-5 and 243 pounds, made college football history in 2019 at Florida Atlantic when he became the first tight end outside of the Power Five to win the John Mackey Award with 65 receptions for 1,004 yards and 7 touchdowns.
Bryant, who is only 27 years old, was drafted by the Browns in the fourth round (No. 115 overall) of the 2020 NFL draft but found himself playing behind David Njoku for 4 seasons. He signed a 1-year, $3.25 million free agent contract with the Raiders in March 2024 then watched as they drafted Georgia tight end Brock Bowers in the first round one month later.
Bowers went on to have the greatest season for a rookie tight end in NFL history with 112 receptions for 1,194 yards and 5 touchdowns and was named NFL All-Pro.
Eagles Have Been Brilliant Drafting Tight Ends
What’s being overlooked in all of this is the Eagles have been absolutely brilliant when it comes to drafting tight ends, where they’ve only had 2 players of any significance taking up that spot since 2013.
The Eagles drafted Zach Ertz in the second round (No. 35 overall) of the 2013 NFL draft and watched him develop into a Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion. Ertz gave way to Goedert, who they drafted in the second round (No. 49 overall) of the 2018 NFL draft and watched him become one of the NFL’s most dominant tight ends and a Super Bowl champion.
So, if we’re looking into our Kelly Green Crystal Ball, the next tight end for the Eagles will likely come through the NFL draft.
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